I’ve posted a lot of colorful desserts in the past few weeks, which is very appropriate given the season and abundance of colors all around, but every now and then a simple, monochromatic dessert can be just as pleasing as the most rainbow-tastic one. Brown on brown on brown today – does that make you excited for summer?? Well it should! Because this banana bread is ah-maz-ing. And quick and easy to put together so you can run back out to the pool when you’re done. Or you can just have your husband make it, like I did, since it really is that easy!

Ryan doesn’t bake much at all, which makes a lot of sense considering he’s married to quite the oven-hog, but he does have a few tricks up his sleeve. And by a few, I mean quick breads and quick breads alone. Maybe it’s just what he feels comfortable with, but I let him stick to his one forte without complaints, especially if there are bananas and lots of chocolate involved. The recipe comes from Deb of Smitten Kitchen, with over 400 comments backing up its deliciousness. The bread is packed with chocolate flavor, stays super moist, and can almost be compared to a brownie in bread form – it’s that good!! And surprisingly not the worst thing for you either considering that most of the chocolate flavor comes from cocoa powder. We used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder here which is why it’s so beautifully dark, I love the contrast with the mini semisweet chips!

It’s pretty amazing to take the back seat when it comes to baking in our home every now and then, but you know I can’t just let Ryan completely reign free in the kitchen. I’m definitely scared to hand over complete control – but he did well with this one almost entirely on his own! I even stepped back enough to snap this photo of him stirrin’ up the batter. It’s a one-bowl recipe too which is awesome, especially for a neat-freak husband like mine! I post a lot of really complex recipes here but ones like these are so great for getting back to the basics and eating delicious food that’s good just because it’s simple. Sure Oreo Taco Cookies are adorable, but you can’t deny that sometimes things without so much fuss are not only easier, but yummier too.

Ryan and I had a great time celebrating our anniversary and I thought it was fitting to follow the weekend with this post featuring some of his handiwork. He’s cute, he’s smart, and he makes me banana bread sometimes! Definitely a keeper. And for a gift he got me a custom painting of my bridal bouquet that brought tears to my eyes. He’s an infamously terrible gift giver, so I was totally floored with how beautiful and touching it was! If you’re one of the two men that read my blog, definitely consider this gift for an anniversary present, it’s so, so special. And if art isn’t your wife’s thing, I can bet this double chocolate banana bread might do the trick!

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5" loaf pan with nonstick baking spray.

Mash bananas in a large bowl. Whisk in melted butter, then brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Set a sifter or fine mesh strainer over the bowl and sift in the baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Then gently stir in the 1 cup of chocolate chunks or chips.

Transfer batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, and bake 55 to 65 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Keep bread wrapped tightly at room temperature for up to 4 days, or serve immediately.

I think it would freeze very well – just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then throw it in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag to make sure it’s well sealed. Then just leave it on the counter to come to room temperature for about an hour or two before serving (depending on how cold your freezer is). Enjoy!

This is amazing! I substituted the brown sugar with coconut sugar…& used gluten free flour….delicious! Also added a couple of butterscotch chips to the top…just came out of oven! Yummy!! Thank you for this recipe!

Sorry about that! I actually chose to omit the cinnamon, but was adapting the recipe from an original source that included it so the ingredient snuck into the list for the recipe instructions. If you want to include cinnamon, the original recipe recommends 1/2 tsp. Enjoy!!

Hello there, just wanted to say that this bread is delicious!! My boyfriend has been eating big chunks of it for breakfast. It is perfectly moist without being under cooked. And the dark chocolate was definitely what it needed :)

i omit sugar,cinnamon andthe sifting and butter
i do 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce and 1 cup greek yogurt added.
comes out great
also 60 percent cacao chips mixed into batter
the bananas are sweet enough as well as the applsauce

This was to die for! We ate it all with in a couple hours. I’m wondering if you could sub zuchine for the bananas? Would I need to add a little more flour? Maybe you can email me and let me know:) thanks! Ctn_mcgary@yah..

I have a TON of bananas to use up and always crave chocolate. This recipe was perfect. I subbed gluten free flour, added another 1/4 c of cocoa and an extra egg. I made muffins and frosted them with Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Frosting since chocolate chips are pretty scarce here in Africa. Total satisfaction! Thanks!

I’m not sure exactly, but I imagine the baking time would be a lot shorter. Try testing it at 25 minutes maybe and see if the cake tester comes out clean? If not, keep baking at 5-10 min intervals to see when it’s done. Sorry not to have a more definitive answer!

I want to make this for my dad’s birthday in a few days but I don’t know where I can get vanilla extract and it isn’t available at the supermarkets so is vanilla sugar also good if I use it instead of the 3/4 cup of brown sugar?

I have made this twice now, definitely my favourite chocolate cake recipe, very moist, definitely one of the best recipes I have ever used. I also put chocolate ganach on the too!
Thanks so much for a fabulous recipe :)

I’m baking up your recipe tonight, but serving tomorrow night to my better half as a surprise dessert. Loving how easy it was to put it all together since I had most of the ingredients at hand. Can’t wait for the raving reviews tomorrow!

Thanks for sharing this great go to recipe! I will try applesauce and cinnamon next time. I would recommend a parchment sling as the chips on top were still soft after ten minutes. Thank again. I will check back here for more great recipes!

Erica, thank you SO much for this recipe!!
I love bananas, so do my kids & so does my husband. Yet somehow we ALWAYS have at least 3-4 bananas brown bananas sitting on my counter. So I am always making banana bread/muffins. I get bored with using the same recipe over & over. I have not made the same banana bread twice in about 4 years. That is, until I came across THIS recipe. The first time I saw it I knew I would love it. Then I tasted it & thought it was surely the best banana recipe in the world. A couple of weeks later when I went to look up a new banana bread recipe, I couldn’t get this recipe off my mind, so I just made it again. And then again… And AGAIN…
My fifth batch is sitting on my counter right now. I am going to try to bake this recipe as muffins & send them to work with my husband. :)
Thank you again!

Also, for the comment above… Maybe try Coconut Oil as a substitute for the butter. I used to be vegan & I would make all sorts of recipes using that as a substitute. Or you could use vegetable oil because it’s got such a mild flavor & won’t change the taste of the bread.

This recipe is BOMB. Seriously. No mixer required, not a million cups of flour necessary (I always get flour everywhere), and very straightforward! Instead of the 1 cup choco chips, I did 1/3 of butterscotch chips, dark choco chunks, and semi sweet chips. AND added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. I’m in love, thank you. It made about 16 muffins.

I made this but I used Nestlé’s cocoa powder and substituted over ripe plantains in place of the bananas. I also omitted the chocolate in the recipe for 6 ounces of Kraft bakers German sweet chocolate. I used 2 bars and used the rest on top in place of the mini chips with chopped walnut pieces. It tastes amazing. I know I completely reworked it but I definitely love the taste though mines may be a but drier due to the plantain substitute. Thanks for posting this…I love chocolate and bananas so this was heaven for me.